1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to percussion style musical instruments. More specifically, the device relates to drum sets and improved supports or feet configured for engagement with such drum set components upon support legs, which act to enhance sound emitted therefrom. In some preferred mode the device additionally employs means for reflecting the acoustic vibratory energy back into the drum or cymbal to thereby reduce energy loss and enhance the musical sound emitted from the drum or cymbal.
2. Prior Art
A drum kit, also referred to as a drum set, is a collection of drums and cymbals as well as other percussion instruments including cowbells, chimes, etc. A conventional drum kit typically consists of a ride cymbal, a floor tom, high toms, bass drum, snare drum, a hi hat, and often additional cymbals.
Typically, the drum kit has been an instrument that does not always require electronic amplification as the drummer can produce louder, fuller, and deeper sounds simply by striking the drums heads with more power and energy. When the user strikes the drum head or cymbal, the vibrating head or cymbal causes sound waves to resinate producing the drum sounds we typically hear.
Unlike a guitar or other user supported instruments, many of the components of a drum kit are supported on a supporting surface such as the floor of the playing venue, through rigid support legs. These legs either extend from brackets engaged directly on the drum or from specialized rigid support stands.
Conventionally, the support legs often include rubberized feet components which engage upon the distal end of the brackets and serve a number of purposes. A primary purpose is to provide a slip resistant engagement of the supported drum component upon the underlying support surface for the supported drums. This is important since the motion of a drummer impacting the supported drum or component, may often otherwise cause the drums to shift or move during play.
Second, the feet are known to provide a means for resisting or dampening the transmission of the energy of the vibrating drum head through the rigid legs to the floor. Conventionally, this is of particular importance because transmitting the energy to the floor will lessen the vibrations transmitted to adjoining rooms of the building which can cause complaints from irritated occupants. The loss of energy to the floor can also impact the resonation of the drums and other components to the room where they are situated, and a deadening effect occurs. Therefor, the rubber or similar elastically engaging feet provide a balance between support and decoupling the support legs or stand from the floor to minimize the deadening effect.
As noted, conventional support feet for drum instruments are often of a rubber or elastic sheet material formed to elastically engage around the distal ends of support members. So engaged, the elastic rubber type fee act to slightly dampen the vibrations from the legs to the floor and primarily provide a slip resistant support for the drum.
Conventional stretch and fit type feet come in many different shapes but are most commonly known in a rounded tubular shape with a slightly larger surface area at the distal end of the foot, contacting the floor. Often these elastic rubber style feet are formed with an axial passage extending from the uppermost part of the foot from an opening to a fraction of the distance toward the bottom. This allows the user to simply stretch and slip the foot over the typically round shaft of the support legs and elastically engage thereon. Once engaged, as a result the drum or cymbal or similar instrument from the set, is supported a distance slightly above the floor, with a cushion of the stretched rubber material of a thickness equal to the elevated distance, under each support leg.
Such stretch and engage rubber material feet are often called floating feet. For support legs or cymbal or other stands employing legs of different cross section, the axial passage for engaging the foot is instead formed to engage that particular cross section in an elastically contracting or frictional engagement. Such a connection severely reduces and separation provided by the feet as the material from which they are formed is contracted on a cellular scale and conducts sound better to the support surface.
Another known type of drum instrument support feet are called air suspension feet. In this type of support foot a portion of the foot features a hollow air chamber positioned in between the distal end of the support engaged, and the floor. This air chamber acts as somewhat as a suspension which is purported to enhance sustain, tone, depth and resonance of the sound emitted from the drum when it is struck and further minimizing the deadening effect.
However, often such suspension feet conventionally provide little contact surface with the floor and therefore can render the supported drum unstable. Consequently, a balance allowing for a secured slip resistant support to the instrument, and concurrently a decoupling to enhance sound production, and minimize transmission to the building structure, is not effectively met.
Additional downfalls are also present. The synthetic rubber material commonly employed for most ends, conventionally only provides a minimal dampening. Further, the synthetic rubber material itself, especially when stretched to achieve an elastic engagement, will transmit vibration to the floor such that a deadening effect of the communicated vibration and sound for a performance, is still present.
Further, the typical rounded shape of conventional synthetic rubber type feet, and their engagement to the instruments, presents problems to the technician or user who sets up a drum set on a stage. Often during transport and set up of the drum kit to the stage one or more feet will slip off their engagement to respective support legs. Because of their rounded shape in combination with the nature of synthetic rubber material, the feet when they become so disengaged, will tend to bounce around and often roll away from the technician. This can occur more easily when temperatures grow colder causing a shrinking of the metal legs on which the synthetic rubber feet engage faster than that of the engaged feet. When such a disengagement occurs, the round nature of the loose foot and general bouncing nature of the material, will cause a rolling of the loose foot, such that the user much chase it in the venue. This is not only a nuisance but can be quite detrimental to a performance given the strict setup schedules by which musicians must abide.
As a conventional solution to some of the problems noted above, it is known that drummers will place carpets, mats, or other cushioning surfaces on the floor as a means for enhancing the slip resistance characteristics of the feet, as well as enhancing the dampening of the vibrating drum head through the rigid legs to the floor. However, this requires the users to transport and store often very large square footage of carpet or other material and can be of great nuisance.
In addition, similar rubber components are also known to be employed on the drum supporting portion of a conventional snare drum stands as well as the support legs. A typical snare drum stand comprises three upper support arms which are configured to cradle the lower rim of the snare drum. The distal ends of the support arms will often include rubberized components which aid to minimize transmission of the vibrating drum head through the stand and floor, and additionally enhance the grip of the drum to the stand itself. However, these rubber components similarly fail to provide adequate drum support and decoupling characteristics.
As such, there is a continuing unmet need for a support foot device for employment upon the distal ends of supporting brackets for components of drumming equipment and sets which solves many of the above noted problems known in the art. Such a device should be easy to engage, employ, and easy to replace and reconfigure. Such a device should not disengage easily during transport and setup and in the event of an accidental disengagement should be of a material and shape to provide a resistance to bouncing and rolling away from the user. Still further, along with providing a means for dampening the transmission of energy of the vibrating drum head to the floor, such a device should provide a means for reflecting this energy back up in to the drum thereby reducing the loss of energy and thereby improving sound quality.
The forgoing examples of related art and limitation related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.